The Democrats were believed to have narrowly staved off a full-blown congressional sweep as of late last night, after it appeared they had managed to maintain control of the Senate despite a handful of close races that seesawed between the parties.

Among the key seats held by the Democrats was West Virginia, which all but killed Republican hopes of gaining control of the Senate early in the night.

There, popular Democratic Governor Joe Manchin resisted a stiff challenge by his Republican foe, businessman John Raese. The West Virginia victory was a must for the Democrats who, with the balance of power at stake, could not afford to lose the seat left vacant by the death of Senator Robert Byrd.

“When I look at what challenges we have ahead of us in Washington, I know it’s time to take that fight there,” Gov. Manchin told supporters, echoing the rhetoric he used during the campaign to distance himself from the increasingly unpopular Obama Administration.

In the moments following Gov. Manchin’s win, Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele told CNN that Republicans always knew that a majority in the Senate would be “tough to get.”

The hugely symbolic Nevada Senate seat went to Majority Leader and longtime Washington fixture Harry Reid against Tea Party Republican Sharron Angle, a right-winger known for popularizing the oft-used campaign term “man up.”

Had Mr. Reid lost the post to a woman once largely described as a weak Republican candidate, it would have been a significant blow to Democratic morale.

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Another symbolic and contested seat is the one recently vacated by appointee Roland Burris in Illinois — President Obama’s former Senate seat and one the Republicans salivate at the thought of gaining. In that state, Republican Representative Mark Kirk narrowly defeated Democratic State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias.

Throughout the evening, the Tea Party — which has spent the year galvanizing angry American voters — wrestled for the election night narrative, celebrating its first big victory with a win by Rand Paul, who defeated Democratic rival Jack Conway in Kentucky.

At his victory party in Bowling Green, Ky., Mr. Paul told supporters that the election marks a “Tea Party tidal wave.”

“I have a message, a message from the people of Kentucky, a message that is loud and clear and does not mince words: We’ve come to take our government back,” Mr. Paul said.

Mr. Paul — a libertarian and the son of Republican Texas Representative Ron Paul — is not likely to fall in line with the Republican establishment, and the party was quick to try to repair its strained relationship with him.

“Kentuckians chose a common sense leader who will work tirelessly to rein in the Obama Administration’s job-killing tax hikes, out-of-control debt, and unpopular health-care overhaul,” Senator John Cornyn of Texas, the head of the Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee, said in a statement reported by The New York Times.

Mr. Steele, the Republican committee chairman, told CNN that the focus should be on a “unified and victorious” Republican Party.

Although Tea Party supporters revelled in those wins, they could not celebrate a win in Delaware, where right-wing conservative Christine O’Donnell lost to Democrat Chris Coons, despite her endorsement by Sarah Palin.

“The Republican Party will never be the same, and that’s a good thing,” Ms. O’Donnell said in her concession speech. “Our voices were heard and we’re not going to be quiet now.”

In Florida, Republican Marco Rubio won a three-way race against Democratic candidate Kendrick Meek and Republican Governor Charlie Crist — who was running for Senate as an independent. And last night in Missouri, Roy Blunt, a seven-term Republican congressman, was projected to win over State Treasurer Robin Carnahan, who was cast as a classic liberal and Democratic rubber-stamp for Mr. Obama.

Republican Kelly Ayotte was projected to win the New Hampshire Senate race against Representative Paul Hodes, but not before convincing a typically Democratic state that his rival was tied too closely to “out-of-control” spending in Washington.

In the late evening, with more than half the votes reported, Democrat Joe Sestak was pulling ahead of Republican Pat Toomey in Pennsylvania — a race that could be an upset as Mr. Toomey once held a large lead over his challenger.

In California, Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer was projected to retain her seat, despite a feverish challenge by former Hewlett-Packard chief executive Republican Carly Fiorina. And in Alaska, a three-way race between Tea Party candidate Joe Miller, Democrat Scott McAdams, and write-in candidate Lisa Murkowski was yet to be called as of late last night.

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